1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a forms feed tractor for a paper handling apparatus and, more particularly to a continuous forms feed tractor for moving a web or record medium such as paper having edge holes, through a printer, copier or other similar apparatus operating on the record medium. More particularly, the invention relates to pins and belts useful in such paper handling mechanisms.
2. Background Art
In dot band printers, such as the IBM 4234, the continuous forms or web is moved one dot row at a time. The user applications for such a printer require very high through-put rates of 600 lines/minute. This translates into accelerations on the paper of approximately 32,000 inches/second*second. This high rate of acceleration directly relates to a force that is imparted to the form. This force deforms the holes of the forms, the amount of deformation being dependent on how many tractor pins are in contact with the form. It is known that more pins contacting the paper at one time lessens the amount of hole deformation. This, however, requires larger and hence more expensive tractors. Larger tractors require larger motors, more complex electronics and a bigger box to house it in, all of which, results in a more expensive product. Hence, it is highly desirable to use small, light weight, inexpensive tractors while avoiding the hole deformation problem.